If an upcoming special use permit is approved, Spring Lane Assembly of God’s children’s center will be converted into an Adult & Teen Challenge drug rehabilitation center for women. Photo by Billy Liggett

Residents say plans for new Adult & Teen Challenge center for women weren’t communicated to them; zoning permit goes before hearing on June 11

By Billy Liggett

Update: The June 11 quasi-judicial hearing has been moved to the City Council Chambers of the Sanford Municipal Center at 22 E. Weatherspoon Street. The address has been corrected in the story.

A west Sanford church is moving forward with its plans to convert its former daycare into a faith-based drug rehabilitation center for women, and residents in the area — including those whose properties neighbor the church — are asking why they are just now hearing about these plans, which they say will make their community less safe. 

Russ Cambria, CEO of Sandhills Adult & Teen Challenge — a residential recovery program that focuses on faith-centered treatments rather than medical treatments — was joined by members of his staff and much of the congregation of Spring Lane Assembly of God on May 29 to explain their plans to and answer questions from roughly 25 residents, most living within a quarter-mile radius of the proposed center. 

A previous, similar gathering held earlier in May garnered zero guests, despite letters Cambria said were hand-delivered to surrounding homes. Letters were also sent out for the May 29 meeting, but the crowd on hand this time said they attended because of word-of-mouth (nearly all said they received no formal invite). 

Just minutes into this meeting, grievances were aired. And many questions were asked. 

Why Sanford? Why weren’t nearby residents given a suitable heads-up? Why put a drug rehabilitation center in a residential community? How can you guarantee abusers won’t come looking for these women seeking treatment?

Why did the City of Sanford approve this? 

The last question is complicated, as nothing has been officially “approved” … at least not yet.

The building that will house the rehabilitation center will continue to serve as a church after the sale to Adult & Teen Challenge is complete, according to Assembly of God Pastor David Hicks. The organization is planning to purchase the building from the church — valued at $883,200 according to city records — for $350,000.

The nearly six acres of land that houses Spring Lane Assembly of God at 1715 Spring Lane in Sanford is currently zoned as “residential single-family,” and per the city’s UDO, a “nursing, supervision, adult care, group care or other rehabilitation services” facility is permitted under “residential single-family” upon issuance of a special use permit.

On June 11, the Sanford Board of Adjustment will hold a public “quasi-judicial hearing” in the the City Council chambers at 22 E. Weatherspoon St. at 6 p.m. to review that “special use permit” application and allow the public to present evidence, offer sworn testimony or show findings of fact should they oppose the application. 

In short, those who are simply against the idea of a rehab facility will not sway the decision.

The May 29 meeting between the center, the church and local residents was by no means an “official” meeting. In the letter that few said they received, Cambria billed the gathering as a chance “to get to know me, some of our staff members and students to better understand the work we do and our mission to help people.”

“I want to make sure you know what we are, but just as important, I want you to know what we’re not,” Cambria told the residents in the church’s community center at the meeting. “We’re not a jail or a detention center or anything like that. We don’t offer the traditional treatment center … we don’t bring in people who are detoxing or need medical treatments. These women will be here voluntarily. They’ll come to us because they’ll choose to give us a chance to work with them.”

Russ Cambria presents plans for the Adult & Teen Challenge center for women before a few dozen west Sanford residents on May 29. Photo by Billy Liggett

THE CHALLENGE CENTER

Centers run by Adult & Teen Challenge (also called Global Teen Challenge or Teen Challenge International) have been around in the U.S. for over 60 years, starting in Brooklyn in 1960 and spreading from there. The organization’s core mission is to “provide teens and adults freedom from addiction and other life-controlling issues through Christ-centered solutions.”

The organization found a home in Moore County when it established Adult & Teen Challenge of Sandhills in 1987, founded by a minister and previous graduate of the program, Sal DiBianca, and his wife, Debby, also a graduate. Unlike the proposed Sanford location, which is surrounded by a residential community, the Sandhills center is located on 31 acres a few miles north of Whispering Pines (between Carthage and Cameron). 

According to the Sandhills website, the center has enrolled thousands of men over the past 37 years and boasts a 78 percent success rate, with graduates remaining sober and substance-abuse free after participating (the study surveyed graduates who had been away between eight and 20 months). The Sanford location would be the sixth in North Carolina, joining Sandhills, the Adult & Teen Challenge of the Smokies center in Franklin, the North Carolina Boys Academy in Conover, Hannah’s Haven in Greensboro and the Greater Piedmont Teen Challenge, also in Greensboro.

The proposed women’s center in Sanford would serve approximately 20 women over 18 who have undergone medically supervised detoxification, if needed. The number of women allowed will be reduced if the center chooses to allow their children to attend as well. 

If the center follows the “pathway to recovery” of Greensboro’s Hannah’s Haven — the only other Adult & Teen Challenge to serve women in the state — participants would follow a course that includes admitting helplessness, committing to a residential phase (nine months in Sanford), self-examination (spiritual) and a commitment to serving others. 

“We won’t bring in women who need medical treatment; that’s a whole different category [of rehabilitation],” Cambria said. “That’s not what we do. This is a voluntary program. They come to us, because they choose to give us a chance to work with them. If they don’t qualify for our program — and there’s many reasons why they wouldn’t, depending on their stage of addiction and other factors — then we don’t accept them.”

Adult & Teen Challenge is overseen by the General Council of the Assemblies of God (or Assemblies of God USA), a Pentecostal Christian denomination that holds to a conservative, evangelical theology. As for whether their treatment programs work better than traditional drug rehabilitation centers, not a ton of research outside of studies run by Assemblies of God has been done, aside from a two-year study in 2001 performed by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. That study, titled “So Help Me God: Substance Abuse and Spirituality,” concluded that religion and spirituality had “enormous potential” for lowering the risk of substance abuse among teens and adults, when combined with professional treatment.

While numerous Adult & Teen Challenge success stories can be found in newspaper articles and news reports across the country, there are also several posts and threads on Reddit and other forums written by those who claim the program was “cult-like” in its approach and practiced “brainwashing” and “gaslighting” techniques. 

Assemblies of God and other faith-based rehab facilities have also faced public criticism in the past for bypassing labor laws and requiring unpaid work duties from its residents. 

But one of the many success stories can be found in Jennifer Toro, a graduate of the program who will run the Sanford center when it opens. Toro, who most recently led the Teen Challenge Home of Hope facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, was not present at the May 29 meeting, but her recovery story was the subject of a 2021 feature in the Casa Grande Dispatch. 

Before entering the program, Toro was addicted to methamphetamine for 15 years and had lost custody of her children. Ten years after graduation from the Arizona program, she became its director. 

“It was scary coming in for the first time,” Toro told the Dispatch. “I didn’t think the program could help. But within a few months … I got my children back. I learned how to parent. Home of Hope operates on a ‘love them back to life’ philosophy, and that’s exactly what happened to me. I was loved back to life.” 

Spring Lane Assembly of God plans to sell its facility to Adult & Teen Challenge Center for $350,000. The church will continue to hold services in the chapel area after the sale. Photo by Billy Liggett

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

The residents on hand at Spring Lane Assembly of God to voice their concerns on May 29 said numerous times — and reiterated after the meeting — that Adult & Teen Challenge “sounds like a wonderful program.” 

They just weren’t thrilled with having it in their backyard. 

And they were even less thrilled with the lack of communication leading up to the meeting. 

“It’s not a matter of what you’re doing here, because hearing all of this, it fills my heart that these people are being given a second chance and provided an opportunity to give back and become contributing members of society again,” said one resident, who asked not to be named for this article. “Our frustration is we had no idea about it. Now it goes to a quasi-judicial hearing, and there’s no lobbying there. I know how all of this works, and it’s frustrating that I can’t call a city council member and ask, ‘Why is this happening?’”

Cambria fielded questions on what type of addicts would be admitted (he denied rumors that “sex addicts” or sex offenders would be treated) and security at the facility. Some expressed frustration that their home values would suffer as a result of the center.

One overriding theme of the concerns was safety — would women who have escaped abusive relationships be protected from those abusers, and does the possibility of run-ins with abusers make the neighborhood around it less safe? 

One resident who said she has a background in helping women escape domestic violence said the safety issue is a legitimate concern. Another resident said he couldn’t recall a “reportable crime” on his street in over 30 years, but the idea of a rehab center in their backyard is troubling.

The approximately 6 acres of lane owned by Spring Lane Assembly of God is bordered by 10 single-family homes, according to Lee County GIS mapping. Nearly half of the acreage owned by the church is wooded area.

“My wife doesn’t feel safe at all, knowing this will take place,” he said. “And there’s nothing you can say that can take that fear away. So now, we have a house that we’ve lived in for 38 years, and I don’t know if we want to stay.”

Cambria said family members who have access to a woman’s location and contact information are vetted by the center, and incidents involving family members around the centers are rare. 

“We understand that women typically have to get away from someone who’s not healthy for them,” he said. “And if they can’t get away from that person, the recovery is probably not going to happen. When they come to our program, our goal is that they graduate and hopefully become a part of their new community. We hope they don’t have to go back home where there’s a mess and probably an idiot waiting for them. Sanford has great schools and great jobs, and we’re right next to Raleigh. It’s a great place to make a new life for yourself.”

As to whether Adult & Teen Challenge or other drug rehabilitation centers located in residential neighborhoods really do (or can) lead to an increase in crime in those neighborhoods, recent research sides with the rehab center. A 2016 study performed by Dr. C. Debra Furr-Holden from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University (and her team) concluded that violent crime associated with drug treatment centers was lower than or equal to crime rates for neighborhoods near a gas station or other “corner store.”

“There’s a lot of bias and bigotry against people with addiction problems,” concluded research co-author Dr. Adam J. Milam. “We need to provide treatment centers in the communities where people addicted to drugs live, not say treatment centers aren’t welcome here.”

Should the special use permit go through without a hitch, Adult & Teen Challenge Center will begin work immediately on converting its daycare center into a dormitory that could house up to 20 women. Photo by Billy Liggett

WHAT’S NEXT? 

According to Amy McNeill, senior planner for Sanford/Lee County Community Development’s Zoning & Design Review Division, the June 11 “quasi-judicial hearing” will follow North Carolina law, which states: “The board has limited discretion and must base its decision on competent, relevant and substantial evidence in the record.”

It’s not a popularity contest, in other words. Any decision made is limited by the standards in the city and county’s Unified Development Ordinance. Those who choose to speak publicly on June 11 will be asked to “focus on facts and standards” and not personal preference or opinion.

That’s not to say there isn’t precedence in communities fighting against similar centers. In 2018, Adult & Teen Challenge Mid-America was denied a rezoning request in Jackson, Missouri, when it sought to build a dormitory that could house 48 men at Jackson Church of the Nazarene. A public hearing before that action attracted many residents who spoke out against safety and home value concerns.

And the Sandhills center didn’t happen in the 1980s without some bumps in the road. In 1985, the Moore County Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to rescind a zoning compliance certificate previously issued to the center. Adult & Teen Challenge appealed to the North Carolina Superior Court and won that appeal. 

Cambria said after the meeting with west Sanford residents that he was glad the meeting happened and that he was able to explain what his program does and will do. He said he had a Powerpoint presentation at the ready, but the early questions from his audience derailed those plans. 

“I understand where they’re coming from,” he said. “I think a lot of their [concern] was rooted in what they didn’t know about the program. We’re a nine month program — some thought it was longer than that — and we don’t accept sex offenders. I don’t know who was giving out that information, but it certainly wasn’t us. I’m glad that we’re able to set that record straight.”

Members of the Assembly of God expressed their frustrations to each other when the residents left the building on May 29. Pastor David Hicks questioned the group’s intentions and asked aloud multiple times, “Whatever happened to ‘What would Jesus do?’”

Outside of the hall, the residents gathered in a circle to also express their own frustrations. One offered a similar Biblical question.

“Whatever happened to ‘Love thy neighbor?’”